Student Skills Group 4: Transportation, doctor visits, grocery shopping, shopping, ordering food/restaurants, hotels, housing
- Bring in a series of pictures of different modes of transportation such as a picture of a train, airplane, bicycle etc. Ask for the name of each object that is in the picture. Afterwards, ask which mode of transportation one uses to get to different places. For example, to get to India do you take a bus or a plane? Etc.
- Role-play a phone conversation between an airline representative and a student purchasing his/her airline ticket to his study abroad destination.
- Role-play a dialogue between a ticket cashier and a someone looking to purchase a train ticket at the train station. The person should explain where s/he wants to go, ask how much it will cost, and how long is the trip.
- Role-play the following scenario if you have more than 1 person: two students are studying abroad together and have decided to rent a car to travel around. They call the car rental company and inquire about the car rental specifics: how much does it cost per day, where are they not allowed to drive to? Etc. Be sure each student has the opportunity to play the part of the car rental company’s representative.
- Role-play the following situation: While studying abroad a student decides to take a taxi to visit a friend who visits a bit outside of the city. Role-play the conversation between the taxi driver and student.
- Role-play a typical conversation one encounters going through customs in the target language’s country/countries.
- Role-play a conversation between a study-abroad student and a university student in the host country. The university student is selling his/her bicycle and the study abroad student is interested in buying it.
- Bring in either the actual objects or photographs of different produce such as fruits vegetables etc. Things one would normally find at an outdoor grocer or in a grocery shop. Role-play a conversation between a seller and a buyer. If bargaining is done in the target language’s country than incorporate it into the conversation.
- Bring in photographs of different foods and items typically found for sale at open markets. Have one person act as the seller while the other acts as the buyer. Be sure they have the chance to switch roles.
- Role-play the following situation: two students are preparing a birthday dinner for a common friend. They talk about what they want to make and create a list of items they need to buy at the grocery store.
- Role-play a situation in which a foreign exchange student walks into a grocery store but is unable to find the following items: toothpaste, soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, and band aids. S/he asks one of the workers at the store for help.
- Act out the following: a study abroad student has just arrived in the country of his/her destination but his/her luggage cannot be found! Role-play a conversation between the student and his/her study abroad director explaining the situation.
- Act out a situation in which a foreign exchange student has fallen ill. S/he has had a stomach ache for three days accompanied by a headache. S/he goes to the doctor and describers his/her symptoms to the doctor.
- Role-play a conversation between a hotel guest and a hotel receptionist. The guest complains about the following problems:
a. The lights in the room don’t work.
b. There is no hot water.
c. The air conditioning does not work
d. The phone does not work.
Be sure students switch roles and if possible partners.
- Role-play a phone conversation between a hotel receptionist and a guest making a hotel reservation.
- Bring in a newspaper listing of apartments for rent in the target language. Read the listing and then role-play a conversation between a prospective renter and the owner based on what has been read in the listing.
- Bring in a sample of a menu in the target language. Using the menu, role-play a restaurant outing. One person can play the part of the waiter/waitress while the other(s) will act as the diners.
